Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Marathon - the view from the chat room

Marathon might be secretly pleased that the door is till open to them for mining for uranium in, on or under Arkaroola, but the kiddies in the chat room have been left sweating a bit by yesterday's succession of announcements (oops...should just call them "anns" to be in with that mob!)

After no posts in the Aussie Stock Forums since January 24, i.e. nearly 20 days ago, the mock wannabes came to life yesterday in a series of comments that will probably cause Marathon more concern than the Government's wrist-slapping.

There is some unfortunate repetition in what follows as wannabes repost earlier comments in order to respond to them, but this is the discussion to date:

surfingman12th-February-2008, 06:59 PMSA suspends Marathon mining operationFebruary 12, 2008 - 5:04PMA uranium mining operation in a wilderness sanctuary in South Australia's Flinders Ranges has been suspended indefinitely after the unauthorised dumping of waste."Some parts of our state are just too precious to mine - Mt Gee is clearly one of those."Full story here (http://news.theage.com.au/sa-suspends-marathon-mining-operation/20080212-1rpq.html)Just a few snippets of the full story.Kimosabi12th-February-2008, 07:52 PMSA suspends Marathon mining operationFebruary 12, 2008 - 5:04PMA uranium mining operation in a wilderness sanctuary in South Australia's Flinders Ranges has been suspended indefinitely after the unauthorised dumping of waste."Some parts of our state are just too precious to mine - Mt Gee is clearly one of those."Full story here (http://news.theage.com.au/sa-suspends-marathon-mining-operation/20080212-1rpq.html)Just a few snippets of the full story.This is going to be real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, ugly tomorrow morning...

dj_42012th-February-2008, 08:04 PMThis is going to be real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, ugly tomorrow morning...I agree with that. Without the Mt Gee tenements the company does not hold very much at all. Slump today seems like some people in the know getting back some cash while they can.

jman200712th-February-2008, 08:05 PMThis is going to be real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, real, ugly tomorrow morning...OMG!....:eek:I simply cannot believe how MTN has gone from one of the darlings of the ASX to a stock that simply no-one wants to own now. By the sounds of it, a few of the MTN staff might be better off looking for a new employer if this article is the real deal. Like other ASF members, I used to dream about owning this stock when it was flying high, now I am so glad I never bought into the hype.Here's a question, when do people think the project went from "highly likely, with a few teething concerns"...to now "almost definitely not viable over the short-med term"?Thanksjman

reece5512th-February-2008, 08:15 PMSA suspends Marathon mining operationFebruary 12, 2008 - 5:04PMA uranium mining operation in a wilderness sanctuary in South Australia's Flinders Ranges has been suspended indefinitely after the unauthorised dumping of waste."Some parts of our state are just too precious to mine - Mt Gee is clearly one of those."Full story here (http://news.theage.com.au/sa-suspends-marathon-mining-operation/20080212-1rpq.html)Just a few snippets of the full story.And what do you know, finally reality comes home to roost.....Honestly, I don't know how many people on this forum laughed at me when MTN was $6.00 and I said there wasn't a hope in hell that they would get a mine going in the flinders.... albeit MTN's lazy management appears to have sped the process up. If there's any volume, shorting this one would yield a substantial return tomorrow - if CFD providers will actually let you do it..... Here's hoping many here heeded my warnings only a couple of weeks ago and are out of this stock.....Cheers

shinobi34612th-February-2008, 10:36 PM"Some parts of our state are just too precious to mine - Mt Gee is clearly one of those."What does the illegal dumping of waste have to do with mining? Sounds like someone with a bias against mining at Mt Gee was all too happy to suspend them.

jman200712th-February-2008, 11:07 PM"Some parts of our state are just too precious to mine - Mt Gee is clearly one of those."What does the illegal dumping of waste have to do with mining? Sounds like someone with a bias against mining at Mt Gee was all too happy to revoke their licence.I hope that I am wrong and if I am does this now mean someone else can swoop in and take out a licence on the same area? Could MTN? Indefinite is a long time, but in this day and age where life is a few years behind bars, indefinite to me means 'no time frame for renewal, but it could happen'."What does the illegal dumping of waste have to do with mining?"Aaaah....at a guess I'd say "how about everything?!" Mate, you can't be serious, even myself as a pro-mining lobbyist know when the line in the sand has been well and truly crossed. There is a time and a place for uranium mining, and clearly the Flinders Range is not it. I don't particularly want to be taking my grandchildren for a walk (when I'm grey and old) in a environmentally protected area and then around the corner fall into a disused mine shaft, or be skirting around contaminated waste dumps.If companies had such a blatant disregard for environmental codes, then every gold company between Perth and Halls Creek would be running of their cyanide-contaminated tailings into the bush...clearly not an ideal situation. Don't underestimate the power of environmental opposition, MTN did and they paid the price.jman

reece5512th-February-2008, 11:11 PM"What does the illegal dumping of waste have to do with mining?"Aaaah....at a guess I'd say "how about everything?!" Mate, you can't be serious, even myself as a pro-mining lobbyist know when the line in the sand has been well and truly crossed. There is a time and a place for uranium mining, and clearly the Flinders Range is not it. I don't particularly want to be taking my grandchildren for a walk (when I'm grey and old) in a environmentally protected area and then around the corner fall into a disused mine shaft, or be skirting around contaminated waste dumps.If companies had such a blatant disregard for environmental codes, then every gold company between Perth and Halls Creek would be running of their cyanide-contaminated tailings into the bush...clearly not an ideal situation. Don't underestimate the power of environmental opposition, MTN did and they paid the price.jmanCouldn't say it better myself Jman, sustainable mining that protects the land when exploring/extracting is crucial...Shinobi, I'm sensing your not a South Australian and you probably haven't experienced the beauty of the Flinders - because if you were/had, I don't think you would have said what you did......Cheers

grace13th-February-2008, 10:45 AMCan someone tell me why there isn't an announcement this morning about the licence being revoked? News report also by ABC online. Is it truth or fiction, or have I missed something?

kennas13th-February-2008, 10:53 AMCan someone tell me why there isn't an announcement this morning about the licence being revoked? News report also by ABC online. Is it truth or fiction, or have I missed something?Check the last MTN ann Grace. That's how the company have spun the order by the Gov to cease drilling until they've cleaned up etc etc. Hard to tell the truth from spin here...:confused: I need to read it again, but they made it sound like it was their decision....:confused: :confused:

kennas13th-February-2008, 11:17 AMLOL, the 'official' ASX statement (market sensitive) starts like this:ASX STATEMENTMARATHON RESOURCES – MT GEE PROJECT UPDATEMarathon Resources Limited (ASX: MTN) provides the following update on operations at its Mt Gee uranium project in the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Marathon Chairman, Mr Peter Williams, said the Company had essentially completed currently authorised drilling activity at Mt Gee, and following discussions with the South Australian Government, had decided to demobilise the four rigs currently at the project.Two of the rigs have already completed operations and had been released from the site. “With our normal exploration cut-off looming, we have completed sufficient drilling to enable us to conduct the next exploration phase, including environmental and other studies, and we have assembledthe required technical details for continued mine planning work,” Mr Williams said.Mr Williams said Marathon recognised the concerns expressed by the State Government and others into the manner in which the Company disposed of exploration materials at Mt Gee, and would suspend drilling operations until the matter was clarified.Nothing in there about the Gov decision, and they've tried to make it sound like it was there decsion to pull up stumps....Then the media release, not sensitive:MARATHON RESOURCES TO REMEDIATE DISPOSAL SITESMarathon Resources Limited (ASX: MTN) today accepted the restrictions imposed on the company by the State Government after investigations conducted by PIRSA and the EPA.I'm not sure of the timing between these two anns, but it seems clear that the Gov had told them to stop drilling and clear off, but in the first ann they're tried to make it look like it was their decision and they were leaving anyway...:confused:

grace13th-February-2008, 12:17 PMThanks Kennas. I'm still very confused about the whole thing. I would have thought a big dumping in MTN (more than my screen shows).I own some AGS nextdoor, so that is my interest (threw MTN out a long time ago thank goodness!).